The 16th April
by The AngelLove
Summary: "...And on 16th April, 2008, I married Lissa Hawkins."
1. Living a lie

**Okay, this is an experiment. Please forgive me if I've done something wrong. This was actually a bet. You see, one of my friends think that I can't write a normal love story and I just want to prove her wrong. But I don't know if I'll succeed. So I'm giving this a try and I kind of have a plot. Now, I'll continue this story if I see that I have enough support. So please guys, show some love! Review!**

**Oh and also, this is FAX! Just a warning.**

**And it might seem a bit dark though, but it will get better. SORRY if I can't keep up!**

_**Chapter: 1**_

_**Living a lie.**_

_When I wake up with the morning light I can always breathe__  
__Somehow that never has meant much to me__  
__and I can't say I am thankful for the things I have…_

She cut the call and stared at her phone angrily. This was useless. Why did she ever want to be a psychiatrist? This was exhausting!

She opened her notepad and stared at the day's events. There were three appointments today starting from 11. It was 10 now and she already felt drowned. She looked at the first name. Rose Hathaway_,_ a middle aged wealthy woman suffering from sleep deprivation. The next one was a young man suffering from a post traumatic disorder, John Gramm. The third one…

The third one caught her eyes.

This was the third session with the man and she still didn't understand anything about him. In the first two sessions, the whole time he just sat there staring out the window. He didn't talk about his problem, and it was obvious that he was forced to come here.

Dr. Bloom wondered if this session was going to be the same.

...

...

...

* * *

...

...

...

**April 15, 2014**

When he woke up, his first instinct was to run his hand on the empty side of the bed. But like the past year, it was the same. There was no one beside him; the simple evidence was enough to crush his hope of it being a nightmare.

And like every other morning, he opened his eyes and sighed when she didn't come out of the bathroom with dripping wet hair and smiled at him with flushed cheeks.

He hit the on button of the coffee maker and it wheezed to life. As he brushed his teeth he thought about what to do today. It was only ten. But it wasn't until he was getting ready for a stroll that he remembered his session with the psychiatrist he had that day which was in four. He sighed as he poured two cups of coffee and placed one in front of the empty chair as he sipped the other.

Like the psychiatrist, he also thought that it was useless.

...

...

...

"Do you mind if I record this?" She asked politely and he shook his head. "So," She sighed as she made herself comfortable on the sofa. "How do you feel?"

"As usual." He kept staring out the window.

Three minutes passed in silence.

"You don't ask questions." He stated. "Does it bother you? The fact that I'm not saying much about my problems?"

"No, it doesn't." She gently smiled. "I am a complete stranger. I can't expect that you'd start trusting me right away."

"But I can't go on like this, right? They said they won't let me back in the Force if you don't give approval."

She didn't say anything to that. Instead she took a different approach.

"You know, Mr. Walker, I find it a bit unfair." She said. "You have to tell everything to your psychiatrist, a person that you barely know will get to know everything about your life, whether you like it or not." His eyes retreated from the window and found hers, and she vaguely wondered if he was confused with her sudden approach. "So here's something about me. I am 32 years old and I'm married. I have a daughter. I never gave much thought about being a psychiatrist, I wanted to be a photographer, but my mother had a dream of me being a doctor and to grant her wish I became a surgeon. After a few years I came to this line because I started to hate the sight of blood. But deep inside I still wish to be a photographer." She took a deep breath. "But these don't say much, right? So, here's something more…I had a step-father and he used to abuse us, me and my mother. When I turned twelve though, the cops got him and we were free of him. But as a teenager, I was traumatized. I was suffering from depression and I started to cut myself. I tried to commit suicide four times and two of the times I was really close." She stared into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking. "Life is hard. And I can't promise you that it'll get any easier or you'll get your happy ending, but that doesn't mean you can give up. Because you can't."

And she stared at him, waiting for his response. But there was none, instead his gaze went back to the window.

"Mr. Walker…"

"Fang." He cut her off. "My friends call me Fang."

She stared at him, surprised at this sudden outburst, but nodded for him to continue.

"I feel empty." He answered her first question. "I feel really empty and I don't think I'll be able to feel anything else ever again." A sigh escaped him, vanishing in the stiff air of the room as he continued. "I get it. I get what you're trying to say. But if you want to understand, you're gonna have to listen from the beginning."

"It's your time." She said calmly. "You can talk about anything you want, I will listen."

He nodded as his mind wandered off.

"We knew each other from the same high school , but, I was always the loner and she was one of the popular kids, so we never really talked." His eyes became blank as he relived a memory. "Then in the fourth year of high school, I became the captain of the basketball team and one day out of blue, she asked me out. We were together for four years. Then after finishing college and joining the force, I proposed her."

For the first time in three sessions, she finally saw some emotions in his eyes as a small smile played on his lips.

Adore affection and care.

The signs of true love.

"And on 16th April, 2008, I married Lisa Hawkins."

…_I'm a hell of a guy, living a hell of a lie._


	2. A girl, a boy and a graveyard

_**Chapter: 2**_

_**A girl, a boy and a graveyard**_

…_and I feel like I'm some kind of Frankenstein__  
__waiting for a shock to bring me back to life…_

_The crowd seemed painful right now. _

_This was weird. I had never been scared of crowds. Nope, never. True, I wasn't exactly a fan of it. Up until now, I had always tried to avoid crowd as much as possible. But that didn't mean I was scared of them. _

_But as in now, I felt scared of the crowd in front of me. The constant chatter, the rustle of cloths, the laughs, and of course, all the attention; suddenly it seemed unbearable. Not to mention I couldn't breathe because of all the pent up carbon-dioxide in the place. Who knew I had so many relatives? The small church was full with known and unknown faces. _

_I saw my aunt sitting on the front row, a gentle smile in her face which meant that she knew about how I was feeling. I tried to smile back, but was pretty sure that it looked like a grimace._

_Someone slapped my back, hard. I looked behind me and glared at the person who had dared to do such gruesome thing._

_Iggy grinned. "Hey man."_

"_Shut up!" I growled._

"_Oooh! Is Fangy nervous?"_

_Sometimes, I hated that guy._

_I decided to ignore his girly traits and looked ahead. This was unbelievable. What if I say my vows wrong? What if I stumble? What if I pee myself (Don't laugh, it's a possibility)? What if I panic and start running? What if I fall out from the podium? What if she laughs seeing me in a suit? What if I faint (Okay, I'm sure that one won't happen)? What if…?_

"_Fang," Iggy said in soothing voice. "Don't fret. You'll be fine." You know, it's kinda weird how that asshat actually had a way of calming people down. They even work on me._

_Well, more like they used to work on me and that was until the doors opened…_

…_and she walked in._

_..._

_..._

_..._

* * *

_..._

_..._

_..._

**_April 15, 2014_**

"I think our times over."

She snapped out from her daze when he said that. She looked up and saw him staring at her, patiently waiting for her to say something. His perfect poker face was back in place.

"Oh, all right." She tried to find something to say, but failed miserably.

It was weird. The feeling.

The story wasn't something special. It was like any normal love story. But what struck her most were the emotions playing in his eyes. The unspoken words that hung on. The smell of care and love drifting on the atmosphere like some heavy cashmere blanket.

When Fang talked, there weren't much emotion in his face. But his voice gave it all away.

She turned off the recorder and stood up.

"There is something else, Fang."

"Yes?" He stopped midway from getting up. But his eyes told her he knew what she was going to say.

"It's, um, tomorrow's…"

"Yes." Fang nodded before she could finish her sentence. "It's 16th April tomorrow."

...

...

...

_You know all those movies where they hold a wedding and everything's red and blue and white (lots and lots of white), and everything's so dreamy and romantic and the bride seems to be walking down the aisle in such slow motion showing of her beautiful white dress and you feel like you're gonna faint with cuteness and die out of nosebleed?_

_Yeah, middle finger to you buddy!_

_It's never like that, nu-uh, no way!_

_First, it wasn't dreamy. Whatever the heck it was, it was no way in freaking hell, dreamy!_

_It was sweaty, it was hot, and it was gross!_

_As for the bride…_

…_Why the heck was she sprinting like it's the freaking Olympics?_

"_Fang," Iggy put a hand on my shoulder sensing my panic. "Calm down."_

'_GO DIE!' I wanted to scream at him but was unable to find my voice._

_She walked down the aisle,(Again, sprinted) and stood in front me. A nervous smile playing on her lips, and her cheeks were flushed. We held hands, hers were soft and caring and mine were sweaty and clammy. She tried to smile, but like mine it seemed like a grimace._

_Then after a whole bunch of rituals, it was time for the vows. And I started to fret again, because I felt like I'd forgotten mine._

_It was her turn first though._

_The Maid of Honor handed her the ring, she took it and took my hand in her palm. The nervous smile was back on her face._

"_Nicholas Walker," She started in a shaky voice. "Or, Fang, I think I'd go with Fang," She laughed nervously and I tried to give her an assuring smile. "Fang, you're the most amazing man I've come to know in my life. I know it sounds cheesy, but, these are wedding vows and they're supposed to be cheesy I guess. But when I say that I don't mean to exaggerate__ a bit. Every morning I wake up and every time I look at you and I wonder, how did I ever found you. Well, no, actually, I know how I found you. I still remember the first day of our high school, the day I met you." My eyes widened a bit. I tried to remember that day and a familiar face, but couldn't. "I was late for my class, I had missed the bus and I was so panicked. And when I was running down the hall, I slipped and I fell." Her voice wasn't shaky anymore as she grasped my hand tightly. "And you were there. You helped me up and helped me to find my room and after that you were gone. I don't think you remember it though, but I do. You were amazing. Then I saw you in the basketball match and you were amazing. And after that, I met you more briefly in high school, and you were still amazing." She took a deep breath as she continued. "I know this sounds weird, but if I can ever go back, I don't think I'll do anything differently, not when I missed my bus, not when I fell, nothing, not a bit. I don't know how I can deserve such an amazing person like you, but from now on, I will do everything in my power to make it up to you. I'll do everything to make you happy; I'll always stay by you even if I'm not there in person. Just know that I'll watch over you, for forever."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

* * *

_..._

_..._

_..._

**_April 16, 2014_**

He woke up at eight, and as usual, ran his hand by his side without opening his eyes.

No, there was no one.

The coffee maker wheezed to life, he scrambled two eggs and took the toasts from the toaster. As he sat on the chair with his coffee and eggs, he put another mug and an empty plate in the chair across from his, like always.

When he was out of his house he tried to decide what to do.

This day was always special to them. And now, it was even more special, because of her.

He tried to remember her, her bright eyes and her flushed cheeks and her red locks and her laugh.

He tried to remember Lissa.

And he tried to remember the day of their last anniversary together.

The day she left him.

_..._

_..._

_..._

_We stood there for a while. Greeting everyone and smiling at everyone. Even Lissa was getting bored now._

_God, weddings are exhausting._

"_My cheeks hurt." She whispered to me._

"_And my hands." I added._

"_Hey man." Again, Iggy slapped my back._

"_Iggy," I growled. "Stop abusing my back!"_

"_Oh," He whined. "You make me sound like the villain you know."_

"_Shut up, idiot!" _

_Lissa laughed at us. _

"_You know, that's not why I came." Iggy said more seriously this time. "She's here."_

"_What?" Though I was surprised, a smile crept up on my face._

"_Fang, Lissa!" _

_I looked at the cheery voice and my smile turned into a grin._

"_Max!"_

_..._

_..._

_..._

He walked to the cemetery and stood in front of the gate. Now, that he was there it seemed harder. The walk from the gate to the grave seemed too painful. But he knew he had to do it, at least for her.

So he stood in front of the grave, put down the white roses, and looked at the silver colored tombstone.

_**In memories of**_

_**Lissa Walker**_

_**15**__**th**__** May, 1986 – 16**__**th**__** April, 2013**_

_**Loving daughter, sister, friend and wife.**_

He remembered that everyone wanted him to put some words on the tombstone, but he knew she would've hated it. Those meaningless lines wouldn't do her justice anyways.

His phone buzzed as he started his way back. He received the call.

"Fang, where are you?" Iggy's worried voice was heard.

"Going home. Why?" He asked in a bitter voice, knowing why he had called.

"Nothing." There was a pause before his next question. "How do you feel?"

"I feel…" Fang thought about it. But he couldn't lie to his best friend, it would only make things worse. "I feel empty. I feel like nothing." He heard the quiet breathing for a while. "Is that why you called?"

"Shut up idiot!" Iggy said in a calm voice. "If I'd call for that you'd kill me. No. I saw someone yesterday."

"Who?"

Iggy didn't have to answer, before that he came to a halt as he saw a very familiar face.

"Nick?" She asked, also shocked.

"Max."

…_but i don't want to spend my time__  
__waiting for lightning to strike._

* * *

**Hey guys, you don't know how much happy I am for all the reviews and favorites and follows! Thank you so so so much! I never thought so many people would read it.**

**Now to ****loserslovereading****: ****Yes, this is a FAX story. I've mentioned it in the beginning****.**

**also if you see any mistakes, please pardon. I didn't have the time to reread this chapter. So sorry.**

**Please review! **


	3. Wait it out

_**Chapter:**** 3**_

_**Wait it out**_

_Where do we go from here? How do we carry on?__  
__I can't get beyond the questions…_

"_Nick," I looked up and saw Anne smiling at me. "Hey, congratulations."_

_I smiled back and looked at the elderly man in front of me, "If you will please excuse me…"_

"_Oh, sure," He nodded and left. Anne gestured at me to follow her and we went to a quiet corner. _

_She stood in front of me and grinned. But for some reason, her face was flustered. _

"_You okay?" I asked feeling worried._

"_Of course," She nodded and then started to rummage in her purse. "But, there's something I need to give you." She pulled out a black jewelry box and handed it to me. "I should've given it earlier but, well, I just couldn't find the courage." I looked at her confusedly. "This was your mother's. She left it for your wife."_

_For a moment I was speechless. I opened the box; there was a silver charm bracelet with a heart pendant, which had a small ruby in it. It was beautiful and I knew it very well. Mom used to wear it all the time. _

"_I, um," Anne hesitated. "I thought it would be better if you gave it to her, you know. I don't think it will be appropriate for me."_

_That did make a reaction in me. "Don't be ridiculous" I scowled as my eyes started to search for Lissa. Thankfully, she was nearby. "You're my aunt, Anne. You have every right for it. You raised me."_

"_Nick…"_

"_No, stay here," I went to Lisa who was dancing with a man and tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me." I told him trying to sound apologetic as I grasped her hand and dragged her with me. People around us were giving us weird looks, but I could care less. This was my wedding after all._

"_Anne has something to say to you."_

_Lissa looked at her questioningly as I shoved the box in Anne's hands and walked out from there. I could feel Anne's glare on my back but didn't turn back. It was better if she sorted it out alone with Lissa._

_..._

_..._

_..._

* * *

_..._

_..._

_..._

**_April_ _16_, _2014_**

They stared at each other dumbfounded for a few seconds before finally Fang came to his senses.

"My God, Max," He could feel his heart thumping inside his chest. Whatever he had expected, was not this.

"Yes, Max," Iggy said from the other side of the phone. "How'd you know?"

"I'll talk to you later." He said and ended the call. Max took a few steps forward, still looking at him with a surprised expression as they stood in the middle of the sidewalk and people continued to rush past them in a hurry. "What… what are you doing here?" He finally found his voice as he stared at the blond. "I thought you were in London."

"I was." Max stuttered. "I came back two weeks ago but I was so busy with moving in that I didn't have time to contact you. But I did see Iggy yesterday." Something flashed in her eyes. But Fang was never good with reading Max, and now, after all these years it seemed almost impossible. "Hey, do you have time? Let's go get some coffee."

Fang thought about it. There wasn't anything for him to do now, and his psychiatrist did say to interact with people more.

There was also the case of her being Maximum Ride, his former basketball team captain.

...

...

...

_I was dancing with this old lady and mentally cursing Lissa and Iggy for leaving me like this, when she came to my rescue._

"_Hi, do you mind if I cut in?" Max smiled brightly at her. The lady looked disappointed but let go of my hand nonetheless. As she strutted to another direction I was more than relieved to have Max as my dancing partner._

"_Thank you!" I whisper yelled at her. "Man, it''s so dang tiring to move that slow!"_

_She laughed. "Well, I have to warn you that I'm not any good either. You know…the knee."_

_Our smiles died at the mention of that. I knew it was hard for her to dance with it. Heck, she couldn't even run anymore._

"_How is it?" I asked carefully. I knew it was a sensitive subject for her and I didn't want to make her mad, not when we'd met after so long._

"_You know," She shrugged. "As usual, I can't walk without my stupid limp. The doctors think I should use a stick, but no way in hell I'm doing that! It's stupid."_

_We quietly danced for a while. One song ended and another slow song started. I tried to find something to talk about._

"_I heard you joined the police force." She said suddenly. "So, Officer Walker now, is it? Sounds cool."_

_I smiled. "Yep. It does. What are you doing now?" _

_Max's smile fell. "I am working in a pastry shop."_

_I stopped abruptly but had to resume again as Max didn't stop. "What?"_

"_I do love pastries you know?"_

"_Max this isn't funny. What's wrong with you?" _

"_Fang…"_

"_No, listen to me." This time I did stop. "Did you seriously didn't go to college?"_

_She didn't meet my eyes. "Yes."_

"_And where were you after graduation? We tried everything we could to contact you…"_

"_I did talk to Iggy…"_

"_Shut up! What's wrong with you?" I repeated my question. "What happened?"_

"_You know what happened!" She snapped. Now, people were starting to look at us, but none of us cared. "All of you say the same thing! You know what happened Fang! You know why I didn't attend college! You know why I'm like this!"_

"_If you just give it time…"_

"_I am tired of giving it time! It's been four years Fang! And I'm tired of…" suddenly she stopped and looked around her. Following her gaze I saw everyone staring at us. Even Lissa who was looking at us with a worried face. "Look Fang, I'm sorry." Max said more calmly. "But, let's just forget it for now, huh? It's your wedding day and I don't want to ruin it like this.__"_

"_Is everything all right?" Lisa asked as she came and stood beside me._

"_Yeah, it's okay." Before I could say anything Max replied. Then she started to slowly make her way out. "I'll just go get some drink."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

They sat there quietly with their coffee and searched for words. Both of them remembered their last meeting very well and the fact that it was not pleasant wasn't helping much.

"I saw Iggy's match yesterday." She said trying to get rid of the awkward silence. "It was great."

"Yeah," Fang nodded. "He's doing pretty well."

There was it again. The awkwardness.

"So," Fang cleared his voice. "Are you staying here from now on?"

"Yeah."

"You've got that accent again."

"Really?" Max laughed. "Is it too obvious?"

Fang nodded. He remembered the high school days and how Iggy always teased her with her British accent. It was almost all the way to junior high, until she lost it with time.

"So, Nick…"

"You call me Nick now." Fang stopped her.

"Oh," Max shrugged. "You know, it just feels weird after all these years." He nodded, but it still felt odd to hear her calling him Nick. "Iggy told me about everything."

Fang looked up from his mug, surprised. He knew what she was talking about. But he couldn't decipher what she was thinking. Sometimes she could make a poker face even better than him.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Though, like everyone else, Max didn't say she was sorry. She just kept staring at her mug and after finishing her coffee she quietly got up and wrote a number and address in a piece of paper.

Fang looked at it; he faintly registered her saying that maybe they'd like to talk and meet again sometimes, all of them.

"And you're not running away again?" Fang asked her in a monotone voice. She stared at him before smiling.

"Nope, never again."

...

...

...

"_What was that all about?" Lissa demanded. I didn't look at her; instead I kept staring out the foggy window. It was raining heavily and every guest was stuck inside. _

_Lisa sighed. "I'll never understand you two. Hey Iggy!"_

_I looked up and saw Iggy coming our way. _

"_What?" He asked. _

"_Have you seen Max?"_

_Before answering, he looked at me. It wasn't a glare, it was a calm gaze that said 'we will talk about this later, briefly'. "She left." He said. "Went out moment the rain started." He sighed. "You know how she is."_

_Yes, I knew. I could totally imagine her out in the streets with the hem of her blue dress hauled up and her heels in her hands, shivering in the rain. _

_It was just so 'Max'. _

"_So she ran away again." I whispered._

_Everybody says__, __that time heals everything__, __all in the end__  
__what of the wretched hollow? __The endless in-between?__  
__Are we just going to wait it out?_


	4. Feeling sorry

_**Chapter: 4**_

_**Feeling Sorry**_

_We still live in the same town, well don't we?_

_But I don't see you around anymore._

_I go to all the same places, not even a trace of you._

_Your days are numbered 24._

**_April 22, 2014_**

"So," She pushed up her glasses and looked at him. "How was your week?"

"As usual." Fang said in a somewhat bored voice and she felt the urge to smack herself. Sometimes she thought that being a psychiatrist was the worst decision that she'd ever made.

"How did you spend it?"

"Sleep, eat, watching TV, eat and sleep." Yep, he was definitely bored and the urge to smack herself was now stronger.

"Nothing mentionable happened?" She tried again.

At last, some emotions flared in his eyes. "Well," He looked thoughtful as his gaze drifted out the window. "I did meet a friend of mine. A very old friend." The words seemed to drift out of him. "Haven't seen her in four years."

"Oh," Should she note this? It seemed that this friend was important to him. "Were you close?"

He nodded absentmindedly. "We were."

...

...

...

He wandered around a while after his session.

_God_, he was _so _bored. Sometimes, life just simply sucked.

So it wasn't a shock that he felt more than relieved when Iggy called and told him to meet in the court.

When he reached there he saw Iggy dribbling a ball. Fang silently watched as he ran across the court, doing turns and playing against an invisible opponent. He saw him turning and cutting left and even before Iggy made the move, Fang knew it was a fake. And he was right, just before going left he changed his direction and went right. Fang watched as he dribbled to the whoop and did a dunk.

It painfully reminded him of Max. She was the one who taught Iggy to do that move. He was good with it, but not nearly as good as Max. She was the best among them, and the one who loved basketball the most.

Finally Iggy noticed him.

"Hey," He made his way to him.

"Nice dunk." Fang said and Iggy shrugged.

"Wanna play a one-on-one?" Iggy smirked as he threw the ball at him.

But the ball sailed past Fang; he didn't even try to catch it. Iggy saw it, something itched inside him, but he ignored it.

"You didn't come to my last game." He said like he was trying to make a conversation. "Actually, scratch that, you didn't come to any of my games these last two months."

Instead of saying anything, Fang chose stay silent as he went and stood under the hoop.

"I saw Max the other day."

"Yeah?" Iggy sighed. "She's changed isn't she?"

Fang looked at him surprised. "Really? Didn't seem like it."

"She is." Iggy stated. "But it felt good to see her after all these years."

"It did." Fang looked at the hoop again. "It doesn't seem so big from down here, does it?"

When he didn't get an answer he looked at Iggy, and was surprised to see his pale face red with anger.

"What are you doing Fang?" He asked calmly despite the urge he felt to smack the black head in front of him.

"What?" Fang felt confused.

"What," He said as he took a step towards him. "The freaking hell are you doing with your damned life?"

Now Fang knew exactly what he was talking about, but he didn't answer and Iggy continued.

"Do you think I'm blind?" he said in the same calm voice. "Do you think I don't know anything? You hardly come out of your damned house, you don't see people, and you don't even come to meet me." He snapped. "What happened Fang?"

Suddenly Fang was reminded of his wedding day. He remembered his argument with Max. Those were the two words that he demanded.

_What happened?_

The irony. Who knew some day he'd be facing the same question?

And like Max he answered the same.

"You know what happened." He breathed out.

"Damn it." Finally Iggy broke. His calm façade fell as he shouted and the words seemed to drift away in the empty court."Yes I do! Just tell me one simple thing. Do you think Lissa would be happy to see you like this?"

"God!" Fang snapped. "Don't give me that! They kicked me out of the Force!"

"They didn't kick you out! You can join when you're…"

"There's nothing wrong with me! I'm fine!"

"Yeah we can all see that!"

"There's nothing to do for me…"

"Then find something to do!"

And they stood facing each other, both breathing heavily. And again Fang was reminded of a very similar situation four years ago. The only difference was that it had been Max in his place and he himself in Iggy's place back then.

Life was weird.

"The only thing you're doing is moping around." Iggy spat out.

"You don't know how I feel…"

"Yes, I don't know! I don't know how you feel Fang! But I do know how I feel." Fang stared at him, not sure where this was going. "Do you think it was easy for me? It was easy for any of us? I never even knew my real parents Fang, I never knew what the fucking hell I ever did that they had to give me up."

For the first time Fang didn't know what to say.

"It's not the same…"

"I know it's not the same!" He seethed. "But that doesn't mean that it hurts any less! Even now, not one day goes that I don't think about my real parents. Do you know how it feels? You don't! But you don't see me moping! Because unlike you I don't have the time to feel sorry for myself!"

And it was done.

The air around them was heavy. With grief, heartache and pain. It seemed to choke them. And they knew it was done. The seething pain was over.

But it didn't lessen any of it. The pit in their chests was still there, it didn't dissolve like they'd hoped it would.

"Go," Iggy waved his hand and turned around, "Just leave."

After a while he heard the quite shuffle and he knew that Fang was gone.

Iggy looked around the empty court.

This was the place where he met her. He still remembered the first time he saw the lanky figure dribbling a basketball with a small smile drawn in her face. He still remembered the first time he played against her. He remembered those days the three of them played in this court and built their friendship. And he obviously remembered the last time he saw her in this very court.

And now, he thought, he'd also remember how their friendship broke in this place.

...

...

...

* * *

...

...

...

**_April 28, 2014_**

A week passed.

As always, nothing mentionable happened.

Unlike the last week, Fang didn't see anyone familiar.

Unfortunately, he didn't see Iggy other.

Though he wasn't sure if he should be relieved about it or not. It wasn't like he didn't feel bad for the argument they had, but he was just too prideful to go and apologize to him first. Even if it was his fault and even if what Iggy said made him feel bad. He thought about it a lot and finally he gave the verdict that it was his fault. But that didn't mean he was going to apologize first.

Nope, nada, no freaking deaking way.

So, yeah, right about now life sucked. Again.

Though after a week without any contact between them he was starting to feel _very_ guilty. He imagined Lisa saying how it was totally his fault and how he should go and say sorry. Heck, she would've made him do it.

Right now his days were passing at a snail's pace. It reminded him of Iggy who said he should find something to do. Maybe he was right. Maybe he should do something useful.

His words still rang in Fang's ears.

_Do you think Lisa would be happy to see you like this?_

God, he hated his life sometimes.

Actually scratch that, he hated his life always nowadays...

...Though one morning, something mentionable did happen.

His phone rang.

Fang furrowed his brows when he saw an unknown number before receiving.

"Hello?"

"Nick?"

"Who is this?"

"Nick it's me, Max."

"Oh," So she was still calling him 'Nick'. "Hey."

"Hey, Listen. Do you know how our high school basketball team's doing now?"

"Uh, no, actually, I don't. Why?"

"Hm. Are you free this evening?"

"Yeah,"

"Will you come to see a game with me?"

"What?"

"A game…"

"I heard you the first time!" Well, everyone did want him to do something useful, didn't they? "Sure."

"Okay then. I'll message you the place and time."

And the irritating beep that said the line was cut.

Well, that's Max for you. It seemed like she was always in a rush when in truth she was a lazy butt doing nothing.

...

...

...

So at four Fang found himself standing in front of the stadium waiting for Max. He wasn't sure if he should buy tickets or not. Max did say something about she managing it, but well, it's Max. You're never sure with anything, which included her.

"Fang?"

He looked behind him and saw Iggy standing with a kind of shocked and irritated face.

He felt his eyes widen. "What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"Waiting for Max." Iggy said confusedly. "And I'm guessing you're doing the same."

"Hey!"

They both turned to the cheery voice and saw Max with a grin on her face.

"You didn't say he was coming too." Iggy accused.

"Of course he was coming dolt!" Max said with her heavy British accent. Then she started to make her way to entrance. "Come on! It's a game between Graham High and West Coast High! I already have the tickets."

They stood there frozen, not quite understanding what to do.

"Did you see Max any time soon?" Fang asked finally.

Iggy nodded. "Yesterday."

"Did you tell her about…y'know?"

"Nope."

"Then why do I get the feeling that she planned this?"

"'Cause she's Max."

...

...

...

About an hour later, they again sat frozen in their seats. Only Max was also with them this time.

"God, they're awful." Finally she spoke.

"Yep." Iggy nodded.

"Why did we come again?"

"Oh I didn't tell you?" Max looked at them. "Graham High has asked me to coach their basketball team."

For a moment, they sat there gawking.

"Graham High?" Iggy said. "You mean our high school?"

"Yes, dolt." Max smirked smugly. "But it looks like I have to do a lot of work. They're totally awful."

...

...

...

It wasn't that they were shocked because she was going to be a coach. It was more that it meant she was actually staying.

After, they stood in front of a café. Max was inside buying drinks. She insisted that she should buy them as a treat and made them wait outside. Which also proved their suspicion about Max-knowing-everything.

So they stood there awkwardly.

"She's actually staying then, huh?" Iggy said after a while.

Fang shrugged "Seems like it."

"God," Iggy exhaled loudly. "I missed her."

Inwardly, Fang agreed with it. They've missed Max, both of them.

And somehow this topic made him swallow his pride and he finally had the courage to speak.

"Listen man," He started. "I'm sorry for how I reacted that time. You're right I should get a life."

"No, it was my fault." Iggy gulped. "I burst out without any reason."

"But you were right. I should do something. But it isn't that I'm in denial. I've accepted what happened, I did…"

"So I was right." They both turned and saw Max standing there with a smug look on her face and drinks in her hands. "Something did happen between you two. Tell me, what did you fight about?"

"We didn't," Iggy tried but Max cut him off.

"Oh, shut up." She dumped the drinks on his hand and started to walk. "You're like an old married couple, you know. It's so evident when you fight. Now what did you fight about?" she stopped and faced them again. Her face was calm and her eyes calculating. "Was it about how Fang's moping?"

They didn't say anything. Instead they waited for her to continue.

"Huh." She sighed. "You're both idiots." She started to walk again. "You think Fang's in denial."

"I'm not…"

"And I know it's none of my business. But it isn't just Fang. We're all in denial. We're all moping."

"What?" Iggy halted abruptly. His eyes flashed with anger in this false accusation.

"You know what." Max didn't stop. Neither did she face them. "Why do you think I came back? My dad has everything in London. He has a brewing business, he has a wonderful mansion, and he has so much wealth with which even my great grandchildren could live like kings. So why do you think I came back?" She stopped and turned. "Because I wanted my old life back. I wanted my basketball back. And I know that's not possible but I still don't accept it. I still can't believe that my dreams won't ever come true. And I'm still trying like crazy. That's why I came back. And him…" He pointed at Iggy but looked at Fang. "Do you know that he still goes around trying to find his real parents? Do you know he still visits the orphanage to see if they by any chance know anything? And you…" This time he pointed at Fang. "You say that you've accepted everything. Have you really Fang?" She stared at both of them for a long time, and then she started to walk again. "We're all in denial and we're all moping. All of us are just too busy feeling sorry for ourselves."

...

...

...

* * *

...

...

...

**_April 29, 2014_**

Fang sat in his fifth session and stared out the window.

Again she asked, "How was your week."

Instead of answering he asked something entirely different.

"How did you come out of it?"

She felt confused. "What?"

"In our third session you said that you were suffering from depression as a teenager. How did you come out of it?"

"Well," She said. "I saw a psychiatrist. But mostly it was a friend of mine. She helped a lot with it. Why?"

"I have a few friends. Both of them think I'm in denial."

"And what do you think?"

"I don't know." He said quietly.

They sat there in silence. After a while she asked, "Are you childhood friends?"

"Not really." He said. "We met in high school. Though Iggy was a year senior than us."

"Senior?" She asked.

"Yes, but it never really mattered. Somehow we became great friends." There was it again. The same smile from before played on his lips as he went back to his past. "And Max was our basketball team captain."

"A girl captain in a boy's basketball team? She must've been good."

"She was." The smile widened. "She was the most amazing player I've ever seen. She was like a wind with a ball in her hands. It seemed like she could fly."

Yes, Fang thought. She was Maximum Ride.

_I feel no sympathy, you live inside a cave_

_You barely get by, the rest of us are trying_

_There's no need to apologize_

_I've got no time for feeling sorry._

**Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. I actually have no excuse for it other than the fact that I was lazy and too busy with Game of Thrones. That thing is like a drug I swear.**

**I'm sure most of you noticed that it's actually Lissa, but I'm writing Lisa. Sorry about that too, really. I've just noticed it you know. I'm not sure if I'm going to change it though, too much work for a lazy butt like me. Though if you think I should please let me know and I'll do it. **

**By the way, updates might be late. I'm sorry, again. But well, let's face it, I don't have much planned for this story. It's great fun to write, yes, but it's also very hard because I've never written a normal story like this before. I'm almost in the point where I can't sleep and want to rip my hairs out one by one. Gosh who knew writing a normal love story was so dang hard?!**

**Also, you should know, basketball has a very big portion in this story. Though my basketball knowledge is very poor and I don't think I'll be able to write the game scenes properly, please bear with me and pardon for the weirdness.**

**And please let me know how it is will you?**

**Oh and thanks for the reviews! They made my day I swear. Love you all for it!**


	5. Hello cold world

_**Chapter: 5**_

_**Hello cold world**_

_I feel happy, I feel sad, I feel like running through the walls_

_I'm overjoyed, I'm undecided, I don't know who I am_

_Once I was inside the car, it was dead quiet. _

_It wasn't awkward. It was never awkward with Anne. She just knew that I didn't want to talk right then, which, I admit, was almost always. But she didn't mind. It was one of the very few things that we had in common. Both of us understood people better than others._

"_How's your mom?" She asked suddenly. I knew why she was asking though, last time I'd told her about my suspicion. She'd waved it away then, saying it was nothing. But she knew too that something was wrong. After all, it was her sister._

"_Same." I said. _

"_Don't worry." Her eyes met me and then travelled back to the front. "I'm sure it's nothing. She'll be fine."_

_I didn't say anything. Both of us knew something was horribly wrong with mom. But we were just too scared to admit it. Because the moment you admit it, it becomes real. _

_When we reached home, it was getting dark. The heavy gray clouds were gathered over our heads and threatened to come crashing down at any minute. It was going to rain soon._

_I opened the door and called out. "I'm home." _

_But nobody answered. There was pin drop silence in the house and it seemed to suffocate the air. _

_I searched the kitchen; it was empty. "Mom?"_

_Nothing._

_Anne opened the bedroom door, "Susan?" _

_Nothing._

_That was when I saw the creak in the bathroom door. Light was coming out in a streak and a quiet pattering sound could be heard. I was going to call out again, but before I could figure out anything else, Anne shoved me towards the wall with one hand and her other hand thrashed open the door. I couldn't take the sudden force, I landed on my back and heard Anne scream._

"_Susan!"_

_I tried to get up, tried to take a look at what was wrong, but Anne blocked my view. "Don't look Nick!"_

_First, I was confused. Then I had a glimpse of what she was trying to hide as she moved and sat beside the tub. _

_I saw a mop of black hair, my mom's hair. I saw a pale hand fallen limply outside the tub, a very familiar silver bracelet on the wrist. And I saw droplets of crimson blood falling from a deep angry cut._

_And I couldn't see anymore._

_My mind went fuzzy. I could only hear Anne's shaky voice as she called for an ambulance, I could only hear her calling my mom, I could only hear her as she told me not to look._

_And I could only hear the soft pattering of blood as it fell drop by drop._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_**April 29, 2014**_

"How was your childhood?"

"I'm not sure."

"You're not sure about how your childhood was?" Why did she always felt so confused with him? She felt like a total idiot in an awkward situation.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I guess you could say that I had a hard childhood, but it wasn't that bad either." He looked out the window and she waited for him to continue. He did.

"My dad died when I was eleven. It was a nasty car accident. And it was sudden, too sudden. We were shocked, and when the shock...faded, we felt the real pain." He cleared his throat. "It wasn't hard though, dad had savings and mom had a steady job. Everything could've been fine."

"But?"

"She changed." His words drifted away in the sudden gust of wind. "I guess she couldn't take dad's death. She never really recovered from the shock. But you couldn't see her change very easily. On the outside she was perfectly normal. Doing her daily works, going to job, and taking care of me. But she was horrible on the inside. I could see it. All day long, all the time, the only thing she could think was he. I could see it in her eyes When she probably thought about the accident, trying to see in her mind how it happened, trying to figure out how the car hit him, how his body jerked with the sudden shock..." He breathed deeply. "And then one day I came back home and found her dead."

...

...

...

_I sat there on the bench as they lowered the coffin inside the grave. They started to put dirt on it, shovel by shovel, hiding the black ugly long box._

_Anne came and sat beside me. We watched in silence, as they covered it with earth, and even when everyone else left, we sat there, watching the flat gravestone. _

_The funeral was small; there weren't much people either. _

"_Why didn't you let me see her?" I demanded. But she didn't answer. Instead she took my hand in hers, and finally after a week of my mother's death, I broke down. I cried in her shoulder and her grasp around me tightened. She smoothed my hair, tried to soothe me, but she never answered my question._

_Maybe, just maybe, she knew that I didn't actually want to know._

...

...

...

"Where did you go after that?"

"With my aunt. She was the only legal relative who could take me. She's my mother's sister."

"Were they close? Your aunt and mother?"

"They were. Though they had a huge age difference, almost ten years."

"So she was really young when you were adopted."

"Yep, only twenty-three. But she's a great parent."

"Were you close?"

"As close as an aunt and nephew relationship can be."

...

...

...

"_Nick! Nick! Get up!" _

_I groaned and the banging on my door continued. "Coming!"_

"_Hurry up! Open the door! It's your first day in high school!" _

_Gosh, she wouldn't move until I open the door, would she? _

_I rolled out of the bed and opened the door drowsily. "What is it?"_

"_It's your first day…"_

"_I know!" I moved so she could come in. "But why are you jumping? It's me who's going not you."_

"_Oh, I'm just so excited, I can't help it!"_

_God, why did I have to have a crazy aunt like that?_

_..._

_..._

_..._

"So you were happy?"

"Very." He said, then he declared, "Our time's up." And she scrambled to look at the watch.

...

...

...

_I walked through the corridor and looked at my schedule. First class was going to start in thirteen minutes and I still couldn't find the room. All around me students were hurrying to get to their classes in time. It was easy to specify the freshmen though because of their panicked face. I hope I wasn't looking like that. It would be just embarrassing…._

…_. And there was a crash._

_I saw a girl sprawled over the floor with not only a panicked but also a pained expression on her face. As she struggled to get up, I held her elbow and helped her up. Then I picked up her bag and schedule and gave them to her._

_She stood there startled for a moment, staring at my face. _

"_You okay?" I asked._

"_Yes!" She snapped out of her trance. "Thank you." _

_I looked at her schedule again. "Your class is that way," I showed her the way I came from. _

_She sighed in relief and ran a hand through her red hair. "Oh, thank you."_

_Then she was off her way as I was mine._

_..._

_..._

_..._

He rang the bell and stood there waiting for it to open.

Something crashed inside.

"Angel!"

Then the door burst open and suddenly all he could see was white and yellow.

He wrapped his arms around the small body and breathed her in. "Hey."

"Hello Fang!" She said in a cheery voice.

"Angel, don't do that." Another voice commanded and the little blond was forced away from him. But as soon as the blond blob was gone, he was being suffocated with a black blob.

"Hey Anne."

...

...

...

"_Excuse me, hey," I stopped a boy in front of my locker. "Do you know where the basketball tryouts are held?"_

_The boy looked at me surprised. Then he grinned. "You're joining basketball?"_

"_Yeah. Do you know where…"_

"_Hey Ig!" He looked behind him. "We've got another one!"_

_Okay, that's weird. _

_This time, I observed him briefly. He was a brunette, with warm brown eyes and one of those goofy grins. And he was tall, like real tall. _

_The boy who came after that, slapped my back playfully, except it wasn't playful at all, and grinned. _

"_That's great man!" His blue eyes twinkled and his strawberry blond hair bounced. "You're a freshman?"_

_I nodded, now feeling totally confused._

"_Well, we're in the basketball team." The brunette said happily. "I'm Zach, a senior. And Iggy here is a sophomore. What's your name?"_

"_Nick." Iggy? What kind of name was Iggy?_

'_Iggy' grinned again. "Basketball tryouts are after school. Just come to the gym, eh?"_

_And they were gone._

_Hmm. Was that a prank or something?_

_..._

_..._

_..._

Anne was making dinner.

As he stood there in the kitchen, he was reminded of the old days. Except that there was also Angel and Paul now.

The six year old was running around screaming as her dad chased her.

"How's it going for you?" Anne asked as she cut the carrots.

"As usual." He answered. And Anne knew not to poke around that subject. "But I saw someone the other day." He continued.

"Who?"

"Max."

"Really?" She stopped and looked at him. Her black eyes were gleaming. "She's back?"

"Yep, and she said she's staying here. She even has a job as a coach in Graham High."

"That's amazing. You know, why don't you ask her in Angel's birthday party? And ask Iggy too."

Angel stood on the kitchen table and screamed, "HELLO WORLD!" Fang stared at them as Paul struggled to get her down.

"I'm not so sure about that Anne, I mean, it's Angel's birthday, right?"

"Oh come on Nick." She waved her hand. "It's more reason to ask them. God knows I need some normal people in that party."

"Honey," Paul came and stood beside his wife as he gave up on Angel. "Angel's friends are normal."

"Her friends are normal, yes, but not their parents. Do you know that every time I go to pick her up from school, they stare at me like I just came out of an eggshell? I mean, come on, maybe I am a bit too old for a kid but so what?"

"Hon, you're forty-three. Of course you're too old."

"Yes, but I wasn't forty-three when I had Angel, Paul. And besides, it's my life. Who are they to judge me in it?

"Nick," She looked at Fang again. "Just please ask them. I'd love it if they come."

"All right." Fang assured. "But don't blame me if Iggy sets the house on fire or Max starts to beat up people."

...

...

...

When Paul was set after Angel again, Fang finally said what he came to ask.

"You know, I was thinking about something."

"Yeah?" Anne asked absentmindedly as she chopped the onions. "What?"

"About my mom."

At the mention of her late sister, Anne was struck. Her hands stopped moving as she kept staring at the onions.

"And I wanted to ask you something." She didn't response, so he was forced to continue. "When she died, you never let me see her body. Not even in the funeral."

And the very old question came out in a whisper, just as it did in the graveyard.

"Why?"

Anne looked at him. The same black eyes as his were sad. And just as it was in the graveyard, she took his hand in hers and squeezed. Then instead of answering, she smiled.

And just like then, they both knew that he didn't actually want the answer.

...

...

...

_Well, that was something._

_My first day in high school and I felt nothing different._

_Well, except maybe that time when I met those weird players, and the time when I went for my basketball tryouts. Hah! I'm telling you, those guys were gaping at me like tilapias. _

_I was walking home when I saw the street side basketball court. I saw two figures standing there and I stopped. One of them was dribbling a ball as the other stood in a defensive stance. But that wasn't the reason I stopped. The guy dribbling the ball was Iggy. The other one was a girl though. _

_Iggy dribbled the ball for at least ten more seconds before making a move. He was trying to decide about it. But the best thing to do in his position was to drive through with the ball and go for a dunk. _

_And he did exactly that. He drove through the girl simply. But surprisingly when he was passing her the girl jabbed at the ball. In a blur, the ball was out of his grasp and she went for a straight shoot. Even before it was halfway to the hoop, I knew it was going to make it. And it did._

_It was a perfect three pointer._

_It's such a cold, cold world _

_And I can't get out, so I'll just make the best with everything I'll never have_

_It's such a cold, cold world _

_And it's got me down, but I'll get right back up, as long as its spins around_

_Hello cold world_


	6. Teenagers

_**Chapter: 6**_

_**Teenagers**_

_It's in the air now, bitter tears and broken hearts._

_We're teenagers._

_We count the years; we think we're smart_

_But we're not, we don't know anything._

**_April 29, 2014_**

"Hey Fang."

"Yup?"

"Why is your name Fang?"

...

...

...

_So, as you can tell, my first day in high school was pretty…._

…_. Uninteresting._

_And the next three days, well, they were the same. Uninteresting. I went to school, I attended my classes, I joined the basketball team, I went to practice after school, and then when the day came to an end, I walked home. Though the basketball team was cool, I guess. I was still in the second string, so it meant that I wouldn't be playing any real game anytime soon. Which was a bit disappointing, I'd admit. _

_But then, on my fourth day, something came up. _

_It was lunchtime. I was going to the cafeteria, when I saw a small crowd in the corridor. The odd thing was that they were cheering and booing. Curious, I made my way in the front, and there it was…_

… _Two boys were fighting each other. _

_Or so I thought. _

_You know, I would've stayed out of it, but unfortunately I knew the guy that was getting most of the beatings. It was Sam Anderson, another member of the second string. _

_I pushed others out of the way, and then got a hold of the other kid. I gripped his waist and forced him off of Sam. He started to struggle to get out of my grasp. Another boy helped Sam up, his nose was bleeding and he had a black eye._

"_You okay?" he nodded and looked at the boy fearfully. _

"_Let go off me!" the boy screamed and forced out of my grasp. As he stood there, fuming, I studied him. He was tall, but skinny with his mess of long blond hair fallen in front of his face. It felt weird, because Sam was twice his size. How the heck did he manage to beat him up? But when he removed his hair from his face, I was even more shocked._

_It wasn't a he…a she!_

_..._

_..._

_..._

Fang looked at Angel, feeling confused. "Why?"

"You know," She continued. "In our book, I've read that 'fang' means something like sharp teeth, like those teeth that dogs have! So why is your name Fang?"

"It's not my real name, it's a nick name."

"I know that, but why?"

For a six year old, Angel was a pretty smart kid. So when a plan about telling a make-up story came to his mind, he immediately cancelled it. She'd know. She had a very good sense of truth and lie, God knows how. But wouldn't be the truth a bit…violent? At least that's what Anne said; then again, Anne wasn't around now, was she?

"Well, you see," He decided to go with the truth. "One day we were playing a game…"

"A basketball game?"

"Yep. And then somehow I tripped and fell on my face. It was a bad fall and then one of my teeth got chipped." He showed her the tooth, it was one of his upper front teeth and it was oddly pointy.

Angel stared at with surprise. "It looks like a dog's tooth!"

"Yes. That's why my friends started to call me Fang."

"Cool! I wish I'll have a name like that!"

Well, he didn't say that it was a tradition to have a nickname in their basketball team; she didn't need to know that.

For God's sake, Iggy named a guy 'poop'! What kind of name was 'poop'?!

...

...

...

"_What's happening here!" The Principal boomed as he made his way. It wasn't a question; it sounded more like a warning, I-swear-if-anything's-really-happening-I'll-kick-each-of-your-butts-to the-next-Tuesday kind of warning. He stood in front of us and glared. "Shows_

_'Show's over!" He boomed again. "Get back to your works NOW! And you three, follow me!"_

_What? Why me? I didn't do anything!_

_Nonetheless, we followed him to his office. As he sat there behind his desk and we stood in front of him, I observed the two along with him. Sam looked awfully scared for some reason, and the previously-supposed-boy-but-in reality-girl was still fuming. Her hair was a mess of blond, and her knuckles bleeding. She wore faded blue jeans with an oversized maroon hoodie. _

_Seriously, who in the world would've thought she was actually a girl. _

_But for some reason, she looked oddly familiar._

_Hmm, where have I seen her before?_

"_So, explain."_

_I stared at him. Why was he talking to me? I didn't fight._

"_You're a witness!" He pointed at me. "Explain what happened."_

"_I-I am not sure. I wasn't there from the start."_

"_Then why did I call you?" He looked at the girl then, his brows furrowed. "Aren't you the new girl? Maxine, is it?"_

"_Maximum," She snapped. "It's Maximum Ride." She said in a heavy British accent. _

_Maximum Ride? Really? What kind of parents name their kid that?_

"_Maximum?" Well, I wasn't the only one who didn't like that. "Why don't you explain then, what happened?" _

_Maximum looked at Sam. She spoke in a low voice. "He mocked me."_

_The Principal looked at Sam. "Is that true?"_

_He nodded. "I-I said she couldn't play basketball…"_

_Basketball! That's it! She was the same girl playing with Iggy the other day!_

"…_It was my fault." Sam confessed. "I shouldn't have said that."_

"_And you beat him up for that?" He looked at Maximum, but she chose to look at the floor. He sighed. "Both of you will attend a week of detention…"_

"_But dad…"_

"_It's sir!" He barked. "Do you want it to be a suspension for a week? You don't? That's what I thought! And I don't want any more trouble from you two! Do you understand?"_

_When we got out from the office we stared at Sam. _

"_What?" _

"_You're the Principal's kid?" I demanded. _

_He nodded. As he went to the nurse's office, I looked at the girl._

"_So you beat up the Principal's kid?"_

"_Shut up dolt!"_

_..._

_..._

_..._

On his way home, he thought about that day. It wasn't good, but it wasn't horrible like other days. Whenever he went to Anne's, he felt somewhat better. It wasn't much, but it was better. It reminded him of the good days.

His phone buzzed. It was Iggy.

"Yep?"

"Fang? You wanna go meet with Max tomorrow?"

"When?"

"Evening, maybe around four? It's her first day of work, you know."

Fang thought about it. He had to tell them about the invitation anyways.

"Sure."

...

...

...

_She took off right after that. I didn't see her in any of my classes. Maybe she had different classes. I was pretty sure she'd join the basketball club, but there was no practice that day._

_When I walked home, I saw them playing in the court again. This time I stopped._

"_Hey Nick." Iggy greeted when he saw me. Maximum ride turned too, and when she saw me, she glared. _

"_Hey. So you do pay basketball, huh Maximum?" I asked her. _

"_Max." She said calmly. _

_Well that was easier. _

_Iggy looked at us confusedly. "You two met?"_

"_She beat up Sam today."_

"_Oh, so you're the other guy? You know Brit, he plays too."_

"_Don't call me that." She dribbled the ball. "So what?"_

"_Why don't we play an one-on-one?" I offered. Honestly, I was very curious to see her skills. _

"_Well, I'd love to do that." She stopped her dribbling and threw the ball at me. A grin appeared in her face when I caught it. "But nope. I'm gonna go now, mum told me to be home by four."_

"_Hey, but you said you lived with your uncle?" Iggy asked confusedly. _

"_Ah-huh." She started to gather her things. "But mum said she'd call me right at four and she said if I'm not home by then she'd kick my butt from London." She grinned. Then she waved her hand once before turning her back and walking away._

"_Her parents live in London? I asked Iggy._

_He nodded. "Yep. She lived there too. But she came here to stay with her uncle and aunt this year. Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"_

_Tomorrow was Sunday. I shrugged. "Dunno, why?"_

"_There's a street basketball game tomorrow, wanna come?"_

_I was surprised, why was he offering me? We barely knew each other and he was also a year senior than me. But I shrugged again. "Sure, why not?"_

_..._

_..._

_..._

* * *

_..._

_..._

_..._

_**April 30, 2014**_

They met in the court. Iggy was dribbling a ball as usual, but he looked more cheerful than the last time, and Fang stood in a corner.

Max was late. "Hey dolts!" She shouted as she came and stood with them. "Don't you have any work or something?"

"Nope!" Iggy continued dribbling. "I don't have any match in a week or so. What about you? How was your first day Brit?"

"Stop calling me that!" Max snapped but there was a small smile in her lips. "It was…well, they need a lot of polishing. Hey Fang…"

"You call me Fang now."

"Yeah well," She shrugged. "It's a bit easier now."

"Listen, I need to tell you something." Fang said. "Anne wants you, both of you to come in Angel's birthday."

"Angel?" Max looked confused. "Your cousin?" Fang nodded.

"She'll be six now, right?" Iggy asked. "When is it?"

"This Friday." He raised his hand when he saw him started to protest. "And yes, she's serious. She really wants you to come."

Iggy shrugged and resumed his dribbling. "All right, then. I guess, I haven't seen Angel in a while.

Fang looked at Max, but she was still hesitating.

"I don't know Fang, I haven't seen Anne in a long time and I haven't seen Angel in, well, I've never even met her."

"Yeah?" He felt something tweak inside him. "And whose fault is that exactly?"

Iggy stopped dribbling when he felt the tension in the air. Max was about to say something when someone called her.

"Coach Ride!"

They turned and saw a blond boy coming they're way. He grinned when he came closer. "Hey Coach."

"Hey." Max smiled. "Turner, is it?"

"Yes Coach, but my friends call me Gazzy."

"Gazzy?" Iggy whistled. "They still have that nickname thing, huh?"

"No," Gazzy said. "We don't do that anymore. Hey," His eyes widened suddenly. "You're James Griffiths! And you're Nick Walker!"

"You know us?" it was surprising. Not that he knew Iggy (When you're a famous NBA player that happens, a lot), but that he knew Fang.

"Yes." Gazzy said cheerily. "You guys are like a legend in Graham High!"

Yep, just don't ask for autographs kid, Iggy thought warily.

"So, you're in the basketball team?" He asked hurriedly.

He nodded. "I'm one of the starters." He said proudly.

For some reason Max sniggered. "Listen, Alex Steiner's your captain, right?" Gazzy nodded. "Do me a favor, when you see him tomorrow, tell him that I want to see him, huh?"

"Okay."

"Hey Brit." Iggy threw her the ball suddenly. She caught it with both hands and glared at him, irritated that he was calling her that in front of her student. "Let's play a one-on-one. First one to score wins."

She smirked. "Oh come on Ig. Look at me; I still limp when I walk. Do you think I can keep up with you like that? Make it three."

It was true. Her knee was damaged too badly; she couldn't play like a professional anymore.

Iggy shrugged. "Let's make it two."

As they started playing, Fang and Gazzy went to a side. They watched as Iggy tried to go past her, but she blocked. Then before they knew what was happening, the ball was in her hand and she was going for a shoot.

"Who do you think will win?" Gazzy asked Fang. "I mean, she can't really win, right? With her leg and all."

"Huh?" Fang felt a smile trying to come out. "Have a bit more respect for your coach kid." He watched as the ball flied out of Max's hands. "She may not be able to dunk for that leg of hers…"

And the ball fell inside the hoop.

"…But she's still the best shooter you'll ever see."

...

...

...

_When we reached there, the game had started. But instead of playing, Iggy stood on a side. _

"_Aren't we playing?" I asked._

_Zach, who had also come with us, shrugged. "Nope. Iggy says he wants to show us someone."_

"_What?" Right on cue, I saw her. She was in the yellow team. "Hey, isn't that your friend?"_

"_Yep." Iggy smirked. "That's Brit."_

"_Why do you call her that?"_

"_You know, 'cause she's from London and she has that accent…"_

"_How long do you know her Ig?" Zach asked. _

"_Not long. Two weeks ago I saw her playing in the court. she was good."_

"_Two weeks? Then why is she joining school this late?"_

"_Don't know." Iggy shrugged. "Never asked." _

_We watched as the crowd around us cheered. Max was tall for a girl, almost as tall as me. Her movements were graceful. She was also fast. _

_But it wasn't what caught my eyes._

_It was her skills. _

_I bet she didn't know most of her teammates; it was a street game after all. But the way she played seemed like she knew what they were thinking. The way her brown eyes danced, it was obvious that she was planning something. But even I couldn't tell what she was going to do next. _

_A player of the opposite team blocked her path when she was dribbling the ball to the hoop. She stared at him as she continued dribbling. Then suddenly she moved left. The player moved left too, and just when I thought he'd blocked her, she went right and moved past him._

"_What?" I couldn't keep the shock in. "It was a fake!"_

_Zach smirked. "She's impressive." _

"_Told ya." _

...

...

...

"Hey Fang!" She called out as they parted ways to go home. Fang stopped and turned around and saw her waving from the other side of the road.

Oddly, he was reminded that the first time he saw her in school. Max wasn't that lanky and tall girl anymore with her messy hair and skinny figure. Her blond hair was now shiny and combed properly. Her cheekbones were sharp and her warm brown eyes twinkled when she grinned.

She didn't look like a boy anymore. She was beautiful.

"What?" He asked.

"I think I'll go to that party."

"Really?" and they continued like that. People looked at them as they kept shouting each other from opposite sides of the street. "I'll pick you up then!"

"All right! Just message me the time!"

"Sure!"

...

...

...

_We were having a match the next day. _

_Coach declared it when we went to practice after school._

"_All right, listen up!" He clapped and all the first and second-string players gathered around him. I saw Max standing in a corner. When she saw me looking she waved. _

"_Today we're having a match between the first and second string." The second string players groaned. "Though we don't have enough players in the first string, most of our players were seniors and they're graduated now. But they've volunteered to play this one game. Now the good thing about this is, based on this match, we'll be promoting players in the first string. So gather up!"_

_the ten players stood facing each other. I saw Iggy smirking at Max._

"_I'll win for sure this time Brit."_

"_We'll see Igster."_

_Hmm, this was gonna be fun, huh?_

_And the Coach blew the whistle and threw up the ball… _

_So don't ask me where I'll go cause frankly I don't know_

_And I don't give a shit_

_Why must we all make sense?_

_Oh I just won't make sense, for once I'm just gonna live_

_I'm just gonna live_

* * *

**You know, the other day, I was having a nice and long shower, and suddenly I was hit with the perfect ending for this story. Oh, wow. I'm just so excited. **

**Hey guys, look I don't know much about basketball. All source of my knowledge is from Wikipedia and Google so I might be wrong about some of the things. If I am, please let me know. **


	7. Blood bank (part one)

_**Chapter: 7**_  
**_Blood Bank (part one)_**

_Well, I met you at the blood bank_

_We were looking at the bags; wo__ndering if any of the colors_

_Matched any of the names we knew on the tags_

_When I reached home, it was half past twelve. The cold wind left me shivering and aware of winter's presence as I vaguely wondered if she was still awake. I unlocked the door with my keys and opened it, softly calling out, 'I'm home', a long lost habit that had returned again and was settling on me.  
But I just couldn't help it.  
The fact that she was there, right behind that door, waiting for me, was enough to trigger it for some reason.  
I found her in the kitchen, sitting there with papers scattered in front of her on the table.  
"Hey."  
Lissa looked up and smiled as she rubbed her groggy eyes. "Hi."  
"What are you doing still up?" I asked and sat beside her taking a peek at her papers. "It's late."  
"Just doing some work." She started to organize the papers. "How was your day?"  
I sighed. "Tiring. How 'bout you? Did you have fun?"  
She scoffed. "Are you kidding me? It was one of the most pain-in-the-ass days ever_!"

...

...

...

* * *

...

...  
...

**_May 1, 2014_**  
His evening nap was interrupted with the shrill sound of phone ringing. He blindly reached for it on the bedside table and received the call.  
He yawned. "Hello?"  
"Hey Walker, it's me."  
Fang blinked. "Brian?"  
"Yeah, were you sleeping or something?" The voice from the other end demanded, genuinely irritated at the fact.  
Fang sighed and rubbed his eyes. "What is it?" He decided to dodge the question as he wasn't in the mood for a row.  
"Nothing, it's just..." For the first time in a long time, Brian Carter sounded unsure of his actions. "Karen said the other day about Angel's birthday. It's tomorrow, right?" He paused before asking, "You coming?"  
"Yeah, I'll be there. What about you?"  
"Don't know man. I'm not sure I'll be able to get off from work."  
"Oh."  
An awkward silence fell over them. A few seconds passed, before Fang finally found something to break it with.  
"How's work? Locke's your partner now, right?"  
"Yeah," He said in a tight voice, clearly disapproving of the idea."It's irritating...what about you?"  
His unfinished question was obvious, _when are you coming back?_  
But Fang refused to understand it.  
"Nothing," He whispered. "Nothing particular."  
An almost inaudible sigh was heard as Brian finally gave up, "Well, see you around, huh, Walker?"  
"Sure," Though Fang doubted that was going to happen anytime soon.  
As he stared at the red streak of the phone, indicating that the call had ended, Fang couldn't help but notice how distant they suddenly seemed. His work, his somewhat former partner, they were like one of those buried deep memories that you cherished while at the same time you wanted to forget because they were also too painful to bear.  
_Damn him, _Fang cursed. _Damn him and his weird antics. Damn you Brian..._

...And he kept cursing as he let his head fall back on the pillow.  
_Damn you for fucking up my sleep you dumbass..._

_..._

...  
...

* * *

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**May 2, 2014**_  
Angel's birthday party went better than expected.  
Well, as better as a six year old's birthday party could go.  
If you just overlook some simple things like two five year olds fighting over one red ballon and a six year old tripping over another one and Angel almost setting the house on fire while blowing the candles (don't ask) and Anne ranting about the stupidness of the whole situation and Paul running around to calm the kids down, it was heaven.  
Surprisingly, Max and Iggy managed to stay out of trouble the whole time. Max had even somehow managed to establish an interesting kind of friendship among her and Angel, seeing that she was never the kind to interact with kids freely, and now was being followed by the blond blob all around. Among the three though, Iggy was the one having the most fun.  
So it was going absolutely smooth until something occurred.

...

...

...

_I stood in front of the coffee machine and rubbed my eyes. Gosh, I felt so dang tired and right about now I just wanted to go home and sleep.  
"Oi, Walker!"  
I looked back and saw Brian walking towards me.  
"Pour me a cup too, will you?" He nodded at the coffee machine. "Some caffeine sounds good enough."  
I nodded. "What is it?" I asked, seeing the file in his hand.  
Brian waved the file. "Chief wants a meeting with us."  
"Why?"  
"Why do you think? We got a new case of course!"  
..._

...

...  
He was helping Anne with the food when she came.  
"Fang, hey!"  
Fang looked up and saw her standing there with a blue balloon in her hand.  
"Karen."  
"Hi," She smiled brightly. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"  
Fang nodded. "Yeah, I'm...well. What about you? Is he here too?"  
She didn't need to ask who he was talking about. "No," she shook her head. "He got stuck with work. But he'll pick us up."  
"Oh..."  
"Mom!"  
Fang was cut off as a kid ran in and hugged her knees. And behind him came trailing Max and Angel.  
"Oh, I'm sorry." Max breathed out as Angel stood beside Fang. "He's your son?"  
"Yes." She smiled. "It's okay." She looked at the kid and ruffled his hair. "Hey, are you having fun?"  
Suddenly, Fang felt a prickling pain in his chest. He coughed slightly to cover it up.  
"Hey Max." He called out and gestured at her. "This is Karen."  
Karen looked up at her again, shocked. "I'm sorry, you're Max?"  
Max gave a confused smile. "Yes?"  
"Oh wow, I've heard a lot about you."  
She looked at Fang, her eyes demanding an explanation. "You did?"  
"Hey hon!"  
They heard the deep voice and turned, and as Max stared at the brunette in front of her, she couldn't help bit curse in her head.  
"You!"

...

...

...

_"I'm home."  
As I closed the door behind me, I heard the shuffle of clothes and in no time, Lissa was standing in front of me.  
She sighed in relief when she saw me. "You're late."  
"Sorry." A soft apology escaped me. "I wanted to call you, but didn't get a chance." I took off my jacket and plopped down on the sofa. "We had a meeting with the chief."  
"What about?" She asked as she sat beside me and ran her fingers through my hair. I sighed, feeling content.  
"We have a new case."  
"Uh-huh." She nodded, telling me to continue.  
"It's this jerk, or maybe a group of jerks, who knows, and they've been targeting girls, mostly teenagers, and murdering them."  
Lissa tch-ed. "Why?"  
"Well, that's for us to find out." I closed my eyes as thoughts started to swirl around me. "Nobody knows, probably a psychopath or something. That's why we think it's one person. Who else will go on and on about raping little kids and killing them off?"  
"Hmm, I hope you catch him soon." She sighed. "How many murders have happened?"  
"Six so far."  
"Six?" Her hand stopped moving abruptly. "That's a lot. What do you think?"  
"I don't know. I have no idea."_

_And I said I know it well_

_That secret that you knew but don't know how to tell; it __fucks with your honor and it teases your head_

_But you know that it's good girl; 'cause__ its running you with red_

**Hey guys, I am so extremely sorry for the late and the short chapter. I just can't get over with this writer's block I have and on top of that, I am typing this in my iPad and I'm just not used to the touch screen I guess. I think there are some spelling mistakes and grammatical errors here. If you find any, please let me know and I'll redo it.  
Also, I've rewritten the story. You don't need to read the whole thing if you don't want to though. There aren't many changes. But maybe you should watch out for the dates. I just it would be good to add it. I mean really, I named the story with a date, I should give it more priority right?  
Oh, lookie! We have a murderer among us. Hmph! Looks like I can't write a normal love story after all. I just have to add some action or other. Weirdo!  
I'm sorry, again. I'll try to update the next chapter sooner and I'll try to make it longer. Please bear with me.**


	8. Blood bank (part two)

**Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter.**

**Wow that was fast.**

**Well, I kind of have something to say first. Sorry.**

**LOVEBUGBOO99 (um, that's the spelling right?) : thank you for your reviews. It feels good to know that you've liked it this much. Now, about the things you've asked for. I'll eventually reveal what happened to Max's leg. But not now. To be honest, I don't know when will be the perfect time to do it. But I'm trying to find a place for it. And about Fax...well, let's just say we're a loooooong way from home.**

**Now about this chapter. I don't really what I should feel about this one. It seems a bit odd. But I think it's necessary. This one mostly highlights on the past though. I'm sorry, but this was important. There won't be much incident on the present.**

**Well, let's get on with this.**

**_Chapter: 8_**

**_Blood Bank (part two)_**

_Then the snow started falling; we were stuck out in your car_

_You were rubbing both of my hands, chewing on a candy bar..._

**_May 2, 2014_**

"You?" Fang couldn't help but flinch as Max snapped at the brunette in front of her. "What are _you_ doing here?"

And once again, Brian Carter was wearing his trade mark poker smirk, which awfully reminded Fang of their high school days.

"Max," he carefully stated. "Karen is Brian's wife."

Max's eyes came back on him. "Oh," she looked at Karen again. Then at the kid clutching at her waist, then they went back on Brian. "Then that means..."

"Yep." Brian picked up the boy in his arms and playfully tickled his sides. "Zed's my son."

"Oh," Max looked like she had lost all her words. Maybe it was just hard for her to picture her all-time-basketball-rival having a normal life. Well, it was quite expected actually. Given his attitude in their high school days, he was one of the most irritating know-it-alls and his poker face had always made them want to reset it with a beautifully formed punch. But they couldn't of course, he was a year senior than them after all.

Although he was changed. He was even more mature now, even more cool-headed (if it was possible to be), and even though Fang still wanted to smash his face and burn a hole into his dark blue mischievous eyes sometimes, he was quite bearable now.

"Well, the way things going," Brian smirked. "I'm just gonna presume that Walker hasn't told you of our current status." Max quirked a brow at that, he continued. "We're partners."

"We were." Fang tried to correct him, but he simply ignored him.

"You mean in the police force?" Max demanded, not really believing it.

"Yep," His smirk widened. "Interesting, isn't it? It's good to see you though. I did hear that you're back in the game."

"And who did you hear that from." Max inquired, now perfectly composed.

"Reynold Penber. Remember him?"

_Damn! _Max cursed._ He's still got that stupid poker face_. "Of course I do." She grumbled.

"Where'd you see him?" Fang asked.

"Just ran into him the other day." Brian shrugged. "He's the coach of West Over High."

Max mentally groaned. Seriously, of all the people, it just had to be him? Why?

"Looks like your next game will be one hell of a kind huh?" He continued. "I'll be looking forward to it Ride."

"Don't get too excited over there Carter." Max grumbled. "'Cause I'm totally not excited."

"Wow, look at all these pent up tensions here." Karen piped up. "You sure take that game seriously huh? You know, I never really understood this thing. I mean what's the point? It's just ten guys running around with one single ball and just abusing it! I mean, why don't you just give ten balls to ten guys? Isn't that much reasonable? One ball for each guy?"

...and they stared at her.

"...really Karen?"

...

...

...

_They seemed in a rush._

_I walked up to Brian who was madly skipping through the pages of a file."What's up?" I asked._

_Brian didn't stop his work. "As you can see," he said impassively. "The celling."_

_I sighed. "Seriously Brian, I am so not in the mood for your stupid puns. Can you just..."_

_"Come on Walker," he started to walk towards the chief's room. "Chief called us."_

_"Why?"_

_"There's been another murder."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_The crime spot was a blind and dark alleyway. The body, this time a girl around sixteen, lay on the dirt and grim as her face was turned up towards the sky. A blossom of blood could be seen on the white shirt around the area of her heart. Her hair was a tangled mess and her clothes torn and disheveled. There was still a sign of shock and fear in her face._

_Just like the other six victims, she seemed to have a painless sudden death._

_I stood beside her body as Brian knelt down beside it to examine._

_"Same as before." He stated and his gloved hands traced over the cut on her jaw. He looked at Jase Stewart, one of our crime scene investigators who was also kneeling beside him. "Isn't it?"_

_Stewart nodded grimly. "Yeah. Died sometime in the night, I think. The killer used a knife, probably the same one he used for the other victims. And I'm pretty sure if we examine the body further, we'll find that she was also raped before killing and the same kind of drugs were used to immobilize her." He took a deep breath and looked at the chief. "Shall we take the body now...?"_

_"Yeah," Chief nodded. "Take it. And don't open the area before further notice."_

_Stewart nodded and walked away to arrange everything._

_Chief looked at me. "So, what do you think Walker?"_

_I shrugged. "I don't know. It's pretty much the same thing. Girl gets abducted, he uses some kind of drug to immobilize her, he rapes her, he murders her, he gets rid of the body. It's the same routine over and over."_

_"Yes, but how is he picking them? The victims have nothing in common. If he is indeed a serial killer, how is he choosing them?"_

_I looked at Brian. He was still staring at the dead body. Then he looked up at me, his eyes speaking the same question as me._

_"That's not what we're supposed to search for." He said calmly. "We're supposed to search for the reason first. We're supposed to find out why."_

_"What do you mean?" Chief demanded._

_"The murderer," I spoke. "He isn't trying to find anything individual. So far it seems like he's randomly picking up his victims."_

_"But why would he do that?"_

_"That's what we need to finD out. Why?"_

_..._

...

...

* * *

...

...

...

**_May 6, 2014_**

"How about your work?" She asked. Like always, her voice was soft and somewhat soothing. Though on the inside, she was itching to take notes.

Once again, Fang had a faraway look on his face as he stared out the window.

"You were talking about a case, right?"

Fang nodded. "Yeah. It was a chain of murders that was happening all around the city. Girls, mostly teenagers, but also women in some cases, were being raped and then murdered. We thought it was a work of a serial killer, perhaps. But there weren't any clue on how he was doing it, how he was choosing the victims. It seemed like a hopeless case. A murderer without any motif or particular reason, running loose, causing havoc throughout the city."

"Which year was it?" She wondered.

"2009."

"A year after your marriage then?"

"Yes."

"What happened after that?"

"We had an idea. A somewhat makeshift theme you could say. We came to the conclusion that he wasn't choosing them with anything particular. He was just randomly picking them up. But the cause, it was still unknown to us. We still couldn't figure it out. Why was he doing it? What was his intention? What did he gain from any of these?

"And then something happened, which gave us the answer..."

...

...

...

_I waited in the parking lot as the first snow of the year softly floated down. It wasn't much. Just a small fleck here and another one there. Some of them got stuck in my clothes, but i could care less._

_The lot was empty. I looked at the office building in front of me again, it was the headquarter of a famous advertising company. I observed it as my mind raced through the recently occurred incidents._

_I didn't know when, but some time between my racing thoughts, Lissa had come out of the building. She was now jogging towards me, a goofy smile on her face, a bag on her shoulder and her camera in her hands. She halted in front of me and as she stuffed her camera carefully inside her bag, she looked at me._

_"Hey."_

_"Hey." I smiled. We started walking towards the car. I watched her as she adjusted her scarf and tugged at her overcoat. "Cold?"_

_"A bit."_

_"So, how'd it go?"_

_"Good." She nodded happily. "It was a nice and clean conversation, and they seemed quite pleased with the samples I've given them."_

_"When's the deadline?"_

_"I still have a week. Though I'm almost done with it."_

_"That's..."_

_I was cut off as my phone vibrated. It was Brian. My eyes skimmed through the short text. Not quite believing what was written in it, I read it again._

_I looked at Lissa, who was watching me with curious eyes. "Lissa, I'm really sorry but I..."_

_"Is it about that case?" She cut me off. I nodded and she gave me a soft smile of approval. "It's okay. I understand."_

_That was all I needed._

_As I was about to rush off, I turned one last time, "Don't wait up for me!" She simply smiled and waved._

_And even though she didn't say it, I knew she'd be staying up late, until I was back home._

...

...

...

"...out of nowhere, we got a lead. We never knew where it came from. It was an anonymous tip off that seemed to come from nowhere. As usual, the sources weren't reliable, and our Chief simply refused to act depending on something like that. It would've been rash. He said it would be idiotic. But then again, it would also be idiotic to give up on something like that..."

...

...

...

_"What did it say again?" I demanded as I checked my revolver for the umpteenth time._

_Brian turned a sharp left, his eyes busily skimming over the road. "It said that the murderer is in the fourth floor of that abandoned building. That he's sheltering there for the time being."_

_"What if it's false?"_

_"That's the reason why Chief's only sending the two of us and not the whole squad. FBI's warned us you know? They said that if we make anymore mistakes they'll be taking the case from us. Chief has to act more cautiously now."_

_"Yeah, I got that much." But another thought was running through my head. "But what if it's the murderer himself? What if he's playing us? What if it's a trap?"_

_"I'm thinking about that too. But we can't be sure about it without seeing it ourselves, can we? Let's just go and see what happens."_

_After a few more minutes, Brian parked the car two buildings away from our destined building._

_"Well, Walker. Let's see where this takes us, "_

_As we'd planned before, we went separate ways. I was supposed to check inside the building, while Brian stayed out and circled the perimeter. It was precautions, just so nobody could likely escape without him noticing. But it also meant we'd be on our own. If something were really to happen, we won't be getting any help._

_When I entered the abandoned building, I knew something was about to happen._

_There wasn't any exact reason as to why I felt that, I just did. Maybe it was the atmosphere. The fact that it wasn't exactly a building but the skeleton of a burnt old building could've been the reason. For some reason, I felt like someone was watching me. I raised my revolver in front of me, trying to be careful, and headed for the fourth floor._

_And it must've been those instincts that saved my life. Because just in time I was able to detect the moving shadow behind me and I ducked._

_But it wasn't the most perfect timing either._

_At first, I didn't feel anything, I was too busy trying to find the person that was behind all these. Then I started to feel dizzy..._

_...and as I looked down, I saw the dart sticking out of my arm._

_Suddenly I couldn't find the strength to stand. My knees buckled, I tried to stay up, but they collapsed. I fell face first on the dirty floor. And that's when I saw the man looming over me. Through my blurry vision, I could make out the bald head and smooth shaved face. His lips turned up in a somewhat grimacing smile. He seemed to be mocking me._

_I tried to move my fingers desperately and to aim the gun. At least to pull the trigger._

_But he was closing in. I didn't have the time._

_"And who you might be...?" His voice seemed to come out from a faraway tunnel as his smirk widened. "Or do you maybe want to know my identity first? Well, in that case. Let's introduce ourselves. Hello...I'm Jack Torrence..._

_"...and I'm the murderer you've been desperately looking for."_

_And I said I know it well_

_That secret that we know that we don't know how to tell_

_I'm in love with your honor, I'm in love with your cheeks_

_What's that noise up the stairs, babe?_

_Is that Christmas morning creaks?_

**Huh, that was that.**

**Please let me know what you think about it. I'm sorry but I won't be able to update for a while. I'm going to a vacation with my family tomorrow, eeeep, so happy!**

**I think this was a bit rushed though. Should I reveal the villain this soon? Hmmm. Decisions...decisions...**

**Oh and thanks to those who are reading this. Please review.**


	9. Now

**Okay, I am so extremely sorry for being this late guys. I was just so dang busy with everything. School is hectic and right about now I hate my life. I just couldn't find a time to write. I'm sorry. **

**though a very big and special thanks to those who read and reviewed and added this story to the following list. Thank you so so much. **

**And now the disclaimer. **

**I I' don't generally do this, but there's reason for doing this now. **

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own the book 'Shining'. It is written and owned by Stephen King. If you've read the book, then you know what I'm talking about in this chapter. If you haven't, well, in that case, I tried not to give away any obvious spoilers. I only tried to say the things which were absolutely necessary. And if you really haven't read it, I highly suggest you do. It's an awesome book._

_Also, the song 'Roll me over in the clover' is not owned by me either. Around 1944 it was a hugely popular song in England. It was used in the Shining, although only the chorus. Thus my reason for using it here. _

**Well, here we go. **

**_Chapter: 9_**

**_Now_**

_Feels like I'm waking from the dead and everyone's been waitin' on me_

_'Least now I'll never have to wonder what it's like to sleep a year away_

_But were we indestructible?_

_I thought that we could brave it all_

_I never thought that what would take me out was hiding down below_

* * *

**_May 6, 2014_**

"Tell me about your partner," Her monotone voice demanded. "Brian Carter, is it?"

He nodded. "I've known Brian since high school..."

She resisted her brow from tweaking. "Oh? Were you in the same school then?"

"No, he was in Pinerise High while we were in Graham High. But he was in the basketball team and we kind of had a rivalry going between us in high school. It was mostly between Max and Brian though, since they were both the aces of the teams."

"And as partners?" She asked. "Were you close?"

"Yes," he said calmly. "In high school, he was a year senior than us, so even outside basketball, we weren't very close. But when we became partners, which was a total coincidence, we started to understand each other better and we discovered we felt at ease while working with each other. I guess you could say that we had some sort of connection between us. Also it was relieving to work with Brian. He's sharp and observant, while at the same time, cool-headed."

"So even though you had a rivalry while in high school, you didn't have any complaints working with him?"

"Yes, I didn't. In fact, I enjoyed it..."

...

...

...

_I stared at the man, horrified. I had no idea if it showed in my face, but Jack Torrance didn't even flinch. He simply picked me up from the floor and made me sit with my back against the wall. I stared at him, desperately trying to move. But it felt as of my body had been turned to lead. No sound came out from my throat as I tried to talk, my fingers couldn't hold on when he took the gun from my grasp, and I couldn't even scream for help as he chuckled at my helpless situation._

_He started to hum as he went through my pockets._

_"Roll me over lay me down and do it again" His hands started to pat me from my chest..."Roll me over in the clover," down to my legs, "roll me over lay me down" then back up, "and do it again..."_

_Suddenly he stopped, his hands resting on my shoulders. His eyes twinkled with a kind of mad amusement, it seemed like he was seeing some practical joke..._

_...maybe that was what he thought of it..._

_...a huge practical joke, but a bad one at that for sure._

_"So," His voice sounded blurry, like I was listening him speak from hundred leagues under. "Who are you? Some cop I'm sure, I just wonder which one. Not that you can answer though." He cackled._

_"Oh this is number one," he hummed. "And the fun has just begun,"_

_"And it is fun, isn't it?" He said. "I've always wanted to play one of this cat and mouse games. They always seemed so fun to read about, and it's just as fun in real. I'm really enjoying it, aren't you?"_

_I stared at him, what have I gotten myself into...?_

_"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm even doing any of this, just like any good protagonist in those books? You think I'm evil and I'm rotten or you simply think I'm a psychopath. But the thing is, it's just so dang fun that I can't help it. But don't you worry..._

_"I'm not gonna kill you. Where's the fun if you're dead? I just want a good game, that's all I want. But if there's no mouse to chase, how am I supposed to enjoy myself?"_

_Oh God, he's a maniac. He just admitted his crime out of nowhere willingly._

_"...But that doesn't mean I'll let you live." He smirked. "I'll finish you off all right? I'll finish each of you one by one. But don't you worry, it'll be a great game..._

_"...When the time comes, I'll give you what you deserve. I'll give you your medicine. The exact medicine that you deserve."_

_Those weren't the last words I heard, no._

_Suddenly he swung up his fist and down on my head. It made a sickening sound as it collided against my skull, and in my already blurred world, black spots swam._

_When darkness engulfed me, the last thing I heard was a low humming..._

_"Oh this is number eleven and it's just like number seven..."_

_...and the next time when I came around, I was in the hospital, and just as Jack Torrance had promised, alive and well._

_At least for now._

...

...

...

_I sat on the hospital bed as I gave a whole report of what had happened._

_Man, this sucked. I still couldn't move properly for those damn drugs that guy had used on me, and even though I couldn't move my limbs that didn't stop them from hurting, and the side of my head still throbbed from where he had punched me._

_Lissa was going to kill me if I went home like this._

_I didn't know what happened after I blacked out. The only thing they could tell me was that twenty minutes after we had parted, Brian had found me there, unconscious. There was no one else around. The whole place was empty._

_I was almost done with the report when Brian walked in._

_"Hey Walker," he called out and looked at the man who was writing it down. "Are you done yet?"_

_He nodded. "Almost."_

_After a while, he left. Brian came and sat on the deserted chair. He looked at me._

_"I want you to answer me straight." He said, or more like demanded, with his jaw set tight and a rough look. "Are you really alright?"_

_I scoffed, which by the way, hurt. "Of course I am. What's with..."_

_"Then tell me." He cut me off. "What was his name?"_

_"Um," okay, this was confusing. "Jack Torrance?"_

_Brian's eyes visibly twitched. "Are you sure that's what he said?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"And you said he was humming something?" I nodded. "What was it?"_

_"I don't know, I've never heard it before. Brian what's this..."_

_"And before punching you, he said something about giving you your medicine, right?"_

_"Yes. I already told you that." Now I felt irritated. I mean, seriously. I was tired and I could barely move and it hurt to even talk and I'd already told them this at least three times. What was he exactly trying to do here?_

_"Fang," I stared at him. It'd been a while since he'd called me by my first name, it was also a silent warning that what he was going to say, was very very important. "Fang," he said again like he was trying to find a good way to put this. "The song that he was humming, was it something like, 'roll me over in a clover?'"_

_He stared at me with a hopeful look, and I stared at him terrified._

_"Yes!"_

_"Roll me over, put me down and do it again. Roll me over in the clover..."_

_"Yes, how did you know?"_

_"You idiot." He cursed. "You should know too. Haven't you read 'Shining'?"_

_"Shining?" I tried to connect it with everything. A vague memory of a book nagged at the back of my mind. "Isn't that the book by Stephen King? Something about a hotel?"_

_"Yes," he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "And as it seems, this Jack Torrance is a big fan of it."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Just what it seems like I mean. 'Jack Torrance' was the antagonist of the book. He was possessed by some bad spirits of the hotel and he tried to kill his wife and son. There was a part where he chased his son in the halls while screaming, 'take your damn medicine you brat.' Or something like that."_

_"And the song?"_

_"Jack Torrance sang it there. Once. Though only the first three lines I think."_

_"So you're saying..."_

_"Yes. Your 'Jack Torrance' has faked just about almost everything to you man."_

...

...

...

"Everything he did was bluff?" She started at him, trying her best to hid her shock bit failing miserably.

Fang nodded. "Yep. Except his face, of course. Apparently he did all that just to throw us off our trails. He acted like a completely different person."

She waited for him to continue, but he just sat there staring out. Finally after five long stretchy minutes, she asked.

"What happened after that? How did you catch him?"

He didn't look at her. Instead he sighed, and then asked a very unexpected question.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to be a photographer?"

"Yes?" She said confusedly.

"Why didn't you?"

"As I've told you, my mother wished for me to be a doctor. Why do you ask?"

He sighed again. His eyes trailed out the window, observing a bird flying around a bushy tree.

"She was one." He said. "She was a photographer."

She hesitated. "Lissa?"

He didn't say anything to that. His eyes kept following the little bird outside. For some reason, it seemed to him that it was desperately searching for it's companion, who might've disappeared somewhere inside the bushy leaves of the tree, and was probably hiding from it's mate. Playing a trick, an enjoyable and somewhat painful game of hide and seek.

...

...

..

_I felt Lissa's wide-eyed stare on me as I stood there, staring at the ground and leaning on Brian. Finally, she shouted. But it wasn't directed at me, fortunately._

_"What happened to him?!" Brian flinched._

_"Hey..."_

_"How did this happen?" Lissa ignored my attempts to calm the situation and glared at Brian. "Why didn't you call me?"_

_"Well," Brian sighed. "Can we maybe go and sit down first? Your husbands's not exactly what they'd call light as a feather, y'know?"_

_After a brief explanation of the lack of my footings and the dark bruise on the side of my forehead, Lissa finally let go of her leash. She fumed for the first five minutes, saying that we were wey too reckless and that we should've informed her about my condition right then instead of leaving it up until I was home. Then at last she calmed down. She got me some ice for the bruise and offered Brian dinner._

_"Nah," he waved his hand as he turned back to leave. "Karen's probably waiting for me. But Walker," he looked at me, his face calm. "You should probably be a bit more careful for the next few days. I don't think that guy was joking when he said he wanted to play a game."_

_I nodded. "I'll be fine, don't worry."_

_"Hm."_

_And then we were alone._

_"This guy," Lissa said. "Why is he doing these? What's the point?"_

_"Well, that's the thing." I mumbled. "There aren't any points. He's doing it just for fun. At least that's what it seems like."_

_She sighed. "This sucks. Fang," I looked at her and saw her staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Please be careful."_

...

...

...

_The next day, there were loads of work stacked up for me. Last night, our artist had taken a brief description of Jack Torrance's facial landscape from me. Now, I stared at the completed drawing. There were some rough patches, but it was almost just the same. His bald head, sharp jaw and jagged cheekbones; his eyes were like that of a snake's, opened in narrow slits, and his lips barely visible in a very thin line._

_No, there was no mistake. This was the Jack Torrance that had hunted me last night in my nightmares._

_"Walker."_

_I came to my senses and saw everyone staring at me. "I'm sorry, what?"_

_Chief gave me a disapproving look whole Brian sighed and spoke. "I said, we've managed to find a match with the face."_

_"Who is he?"_

_"Wilson Hernandez." He shoved a file to chief and continued. "Four years ago, there was a house fire caused by gas explosion. A family of three, husband wife and their kid, were spot dead. They didn't even found much of the corpses. Everything was burned to ashes. There weren't anyone to testify so they came to the conclusion that it was an accident."_

_"And where does he come in?" Chief demanded. "Did he kill them or something?"_

_"No, rather he was the one killed. He was the husband. They didn't find any trace of him or his body in the spot. But one of the neighbors said that he'd seen him going inside some times before it happened. Naturally, police thought he was dead."_

_"And you're pretty sure that's him?"_

_Brian shrugged. "It fits. In the book, Jack Torrance was the one trying to kill his wife and son. There was also an explosion in the end that destroyed the hotel. But unlike Jack Torrance, Wilson Hernandez actually succeeded in murdering his family. And that's what I think had happened. He set the whole thing up, killed his family, and disappeared. You got to admit that it's quite possible."_

_"Yeah." He nodded. "Well, keep looking. And alert everyone in the area about him. And can you send a copy of this in my office?" He gave the sketch to me. "And please send one to the FBI with all other informations. They'd want to know about this."_

_I nodded. "Sure."_

_We went our separate ways after that._

_I was copyong the documents in my PC when my phone rang. Lissa._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey, I just wanted to do a quick check on you. Are you busy?"_

_"Uh, it's fine." I opened my email and started to scroll through the contacts, looking for the FBI's info. "Don't worry. Where are you anyways?"_

_"Oh I was just coming home from the meeting."_

_"Yeah?" Remembering about the meeting she had today with her current boss. She was doing an assingment for the advertisement company. "How was it?"_

_"Good." She said sounding cheerful. "I'm done with the developing too, so I'll hand them over tomorrow I think." Someone coughed beside her._

_And that was when I became distracted._

_"Who's that?"_

_"Oh, that's Mr. Richard, from the company. He lives in the block beside ours so he offered me ride."_

_"Uh-huh?" Something nagged me. But before I could figure out what it was, I accidentally clicked on Lissa's email instead. "Shit!"_

_"Fang? What's wrong?"_

_"I sent you an email with all the documents of the case. It was supposed to be the FBI's!"_

_Lissa chuckled. "It's fine. I'll hang up now."_

_"You're home?"_

_"Yeah almost."_

_"Alright, bye."_

_"Bye."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_Exactly ten minutes later, my phone rang again._

_"Fang!"_

_This time, Lissa panicked._

_"Hey, what's wrong?"_

_"Fang," her voice was strained, she was trying very hard to keep calm, but was failing it seemed. "The file that you sent me, you said it was the case file, right? That guy, Jack Torrance?"_

_"Yeah, why?"_

_"And the drawing there, is that him?"_

_"Lissa..."_

_"Is that him Fang?!"_

_"Yes, that's him."_

_Her voice broke. "Oh my God."_

_"Lissa tell me what's wrong?"_

_She sucked in a breath. "That guy," she said in a shaky voice. "That's him, Mr. Richard."_

_For a moment I didn't feel anything..._

_"The guy from the company? The one that gave you a lift just now?"_

_And even before she answered, I knew it. I knew it was him._

_And I knew what he was going to do next._

_...and then suddenly my whole world was crumbling down._

* * *

_Lost the battle, win the war_

_I'm bringing my sinking ship back to the shore_

_Starting over, we'll head back in_

_There's a time and a place to die but this ain't it_

**Well, there you go. Please let me know what you think of it. And thanks for reading.**


End file.
